Any irrevocable trust, by its very nature, needs a Trust Tax ID (EIN) Number to perform its basic functions. An irrevocable trust is a trust that the grantor no longer directly controls. Since the grantor cannot make changes to the irrevocable trust, they also are no longer responsible for the filing of taxes or paying of taxes for that trust. The trust doesn’t report its income under the grantor’s own EIN (usually their social security number), so it needs its own EIN.
A revocable trust, comparatively, can still be reported under someone’s own EIN. After death, a revocable trust becomes an irrevocable trust, and that irrevocable trust is going to need a separate EIN as well. Final tax returns will be filed under the deceased individual’s social security number. There are many types of trust account. But if a trust account cannot be changed by the grantor and is responsible for its own tax payments, it will need its own taxpayer identification number.